Yuvraj Singh Backs Hardik Pandya, KL Rahul to Break His Fastest T20I Fifty Record

Yuvraj Singh backs Hardik Pandya to break his record of hitting the fastest T20I half-century in international cricket. Yuvraj, en route to smashing Stuart Broad for six sixes in an over during the inaugural edition of the ICC T20 World Cup in 2007, completed his half-century off just 12 deliveries, a record that has stood for the 12 years. India went on to win the World Cup that year with Yuvraj playing some marathon innings, including successive match-winning knocks against England and Australia. The southpaw also played an instrumental role in India’s 2011 World Cup win and also won the Player of the Tournament Award for his performances. Yuvraj Singh Posts a Video of His Favourite Shot, Harbhajan Singh, Shikhar Dhawan & Others React.

Asked who he thinks can break his incredible record, Yuvi said that Hardik can be that guy and that the hard-hitting all-rounder has the potential to make it big in international cricket. He also picked KL Rahul as another batsman who could break the record. Yuvraj Singh Reveals Why He Is Not Interested in Doing Commentary, Says 'Can’t Tolerate Some People in the Box'.

“Two guys I thought could break the record are Chris Gayle and AB de Villiers. KL can do it he has 50 off 14 balls in the IPL but scoring a 50 in international cricket where all are quality bowlers and in IPL where you get two quality bowlers is not the same. But KL and Hardik have the potential,” said the former Indian all-rounder on Sportscreen’s YouTube page.

Yuvraj’s record of a T20I half-century from just 12 deliveries remains the fastest T20I fifty with the next being Mirza Ahsan’s 13-ball fifty during Austria vs Luxembourg T20I match. West Indies Chris Gayle and Afghanistan’s Hazratullah Zazai have also hit 12 ball fifties but in franchise cricket. Gayle smashed a 12-ball fifty in the 2016 Big Bash League during the Melbourne Renegades vs Adelaide Strikers match, while Zazai smashed a half-century from the same number of deliveries in the Afghanistan T20 League.

Yuvraj also called for BCCI to hire a psychologist to take care of mental health of all cricketers especially precarious talents like Rishabh Pant and Pandya. “In this team, there is no one to talk to about the mental front of players. Guys like Prithvi Shaw, Rishabh Pant are so talented. But now with so much scrutiny and media around, you need somebody to talk to,” said Yuvraj.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on May 13, 2020 01:00 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).